In July of the sixth year of Jianlong, AD 208.
The war in Qingzhou has been going on for a year. Both sides have invested hugely in Qingzhou. Cao Wei has reached the end of its strength and can no longer hold on. After Xun Yu's repeated persuasion, Cao Pi sent people to Soochow to quell the war that lasted for a year by ceding territory. War.
Cao Wei's bottom line is to cede Donglai County to Soochow.
But Sun Ce disagreed.
The war has been fought for such a long time and the investment is not small. Is it for the sake of the small Donglai County? Moreover, Donglai County faces the sea and is not adjacent to Jingguo. If their goal is not achieved, how can they give in? Sun Ce knew the situation of Cao Wei, so he dared to grit his teeth and persevere.
Liu Bei withdrew early, and it was over after Liu Bei captured a few cities in Yuzhang.
But Cao Wei couldn't escape, and had to increase his troops from time to time to resist Wu's attacks. The domestic situation became very serious. The wealth left by Cao Cao had already been wiped out by Huo Huo, and the national treasury was empty. Half of the grain and grass were purchased from Jingguo. Yes, I immediately ran out of money to buy it.
Xudu.
Cao Pi slumped in his chair with a weak look on his face, holding in his hand a secret letter sent from Soochow, which contained Soochow's ceasefire request: cede Qingzhou. Since he came to the throne, the Wei state has been in turmoil, enduring internal and external troubles until now. Cao Pi felt a deep weakness.
Under the current situation, the war in Qingzhou must not continue, otherwise Cao Wei will be dragged to death. However, Qingzhou is the ancestral inheritance left by the late emperor, how can it be abandoned so easily? But in the current situation, if Qingzhou is not abandoned, the entire Wei State will be dragged in. The Jing State in the north is eyeing it and has to guard against it.
"well……"
Cao Pi let out a long sigh, revealing his helplessness and sadness.
Qingzhou, he had to do it if he didn't want to. He must not bring down the entire Wei State because of Qingzhou. But then again, wasn't the purpose of Soochow's attack on Qingzhou to form cavalry to attack the Central Plains? When Wu State formed cavalry, how could the situation of Wei State get better?
Thinking of this, Cao Pi felt melancholy.
It has only been three years since he came to the throne in 206. In just three years, Guo Jia passed away and Qingzhou was in danger. The country of Wei was worried about foreign affairs and the people were in dire straits. The country's national power was weakening day by day. If this situation continues, Wei will surely perish!
Cutting off Qingzhou would at least give Wei a three-year period of development.
This battle also caused Wu State to suffer a lot of losses. It did not dare to start another war easily in a short period of time. Moreover, after Wu State captured Qingzhou, it had to spend a huge price to build cavalry. It would be difficult to train cavalry in less than two or three years. This It brought a three-year reprieve to Wei.
With three years of recuperation, Wei's national strength can at least be restored to some extent, and it will be able to face future changes. There may also be a chance to regain the lost Qingzhou and Xuzhou.
The whole palace was silent.
He sat silently on the dragon chair, looking at something aimlessly, thinking seriously.
Cao Pi had read extensively in classics and biographies since he was a child, was familiar with the theories of various schools of thought, and was both civil and military. He was a statesman and writer in the late Han Dynasty. When he first ascended the throne three years ago and wielded great power, he was somewhat excited and satisfied psychologically. Facing the country he had taken over from his father, and inheriting his father Cao Cao's ambition to unify the country, he wanted to achieve some Confucian benevolent monarchy.
Unexpectedly, the current situation is stronger than others.
Not only was his wish not realized, he also lost a state.
"emperor!"
Xun Yu walked in at some unknown time and bowed respectfully to Cao Pi. The cession of Qingzhou was imminent. As the minister of Tuogu, Xun Yu was heartbroken, but now Wei really could not afford to waste any more and could only cede territory to seek peace.
"Get flat!"
Cao Pi retracted his thoughts, calmed down, and regained some authority in his voice, "I have already thought about it. I will use Qingzhou in exchange for three years. You can send someone to handle this matter with Wu. The sooner the better, let General Xia Houchun and General Cao Ren withdraws his troops."
Xun Yu's voice was hoarse: "Here!"
It is a shame for a country to cede territory to seek peace. Over the years since the founding of the Wei State, although it has lost many battles, it has also won many battles. It has never been so humiliating to cede territory to seek peace.
Thinking of this, Xun Yu couldn't help but his eyes turned red.
Cao Pi heard the sorrow in Xun Yu's voice, and squeezed out a smile: "I heard that there is a saying in the Jingguo military trumpet: the sun and the moon, the mountains and rivers will last forever, and the Dajing rivers and mountains will last forever. Haha! I think, I am the great country of Wei. These words will surely last forever, I love you, don’t cry.”
Xun Yu looked at Cao Pi for a while, then turned and left.
In August 208 AD, Wu and Wei signed a non-aggression treaty to cede Qingzhou in Beihai City, Qingzhou. In the same month, the Wei army withdrew from Qingzhou, and the entire Qingzhou became the territory of Wu.
…
When news of this incident reached Chang'an, Zhang Xiu was surprised.
I didn't expect that Cao Pi had such deep internal organs. It was really unexpected that he could accept the humiliation of ceding territory in exchange for three years of peaceful development of the Wei state.
After the Battle of Qingzhou is over, Wei will usher in a three-year period of development.
The State of Wu also suffered heavy losses in the battle of Qingzhou and had to purchase a large number of war horses from the State of Jing. It was unable to fight again in a short period of time. The State of Chu and the State of Wei were allies and would not pose a threat to the State of Wei. They now have the ability to attack the State of Wei. , and the only one who poses the most serious threat to Wei is Jingguo.
But Cao Pi responded quickly.
In the same month that the Battle of Qingzhou ended, Wei sent people to discuss the marriage.
"Cao Pi's response is very quick!"
Seeing Cao Pi's handwritten letter, Zhang Xiu smiled, "He wanted to show weakness and form a marriage alliance in the hope that I would not go to war and give them three years of development. Haha! What a pity! He is not King Goujian of Yue, and I am not Wu Wang Fuchai."
Jia Xu said: "Cao Pi is capable of bending and stretching, and has great ambitions. We must not give him a stable period of development, otherwise, he will definitely be in trouble for me!"
Zhang Xiu nodded: "Of course I won't let him develop smoothly. The research and development of our ships and firearms will take another two years. During these two years, we must not make things easier for Wei. Do you have any good ideas?"
Li Ru said: "The development of a country is nothing more than money and grain. If Wei wants to develop, it must turn from offensive to defensive, lift bans, lighten tariffs, vigorously implement the farmland system, and widely discuss light punishments. Only in this way can Wei have the opportunity to win in the Three Kingdoms." We will recover from the defeat within the year. We will start with money and food."
Zhang Xiu nodded and motioned for Li Ru to continue.
Li Ru said: "Money is easy to come by. Whether it is war horses, paper, silk, cattle, sheep, etc., they must be sold to us. The Wei State has light tariffs, so the money will naturally flow into our country, Dajing, and this business transaction will greatly affect our country." After two years of development, the Jing Min Bank has won the trust of the people. The Emperor can force the Wei State to use our D Jing Min Bank. In this way, we can use money to destroy food."
Liu Ye laughed and said, "Xiang Li wants to exchange RMB notes for food!"
Li Ru nodded.
Use a piece of paper in exchange for tens of millions of food and grass from the Wei State. There is no reason why Cao Pi will not agree. If he does not agree, he will be beaten. Let Cao Pi know that a weak country has no diplomacy.
